Patrick Cramer achieved a scientific sensation by determining the three-dimensional structure of RNA polymerase II, one of the largest enzymes found in cell nuclei. This enzyme plays a key role in transcription, the transfer of genetic information from DNA into messenger RNA (mRNA), the 'instructions' for the production of proteins. Cramer's findings have been groundbreaking for studies in this field. In the long term he aims to solve the entire puzzle of how transcription and translation are regulated.

Patrick Cramer studied chemistry in Stuttgart, Heidelberg and Bristol, and obtained his doctorate at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Grenoble, France, before spending two years as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in California, where he worked in the renowned research group of Roger Kornberg. At the age of 32 he was appointed to a professorship at the Gene Center of the University of Munich, where he became director three years later.

Prof. Peter Jonas (44), Neurophysiology, University of Freiburg (1.55 million)

Peter Jonas' research deals with the mechanisms of communication between individual nerve cells in the brain. He has made a significant contribution towards explaining the interactions between the various membrane channels and neurotransmitters involved in these communication processes and to representing the sequence in which this communication takes place. His work is related to the research conducted by Nobel Prize laureate Erwin Neher, and it has advanced progress in this field, in which Germany is a global leader. The long term goal of his research is to provide detailed information on the higher brain functions, such as thought.

After studying human medicine and obtaining his doctorate from the University of Giessen, Peter Jonas went to the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelber
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Contact: Dr. Jutta Rateike
jutta.rateike@dfg.de
49-228-885-2665
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
9-Dec-2005